Matters of the Mind
by n00btmntfan
Summary: The Kraang threat looms ever larger. As the Kraang begin kidnapping and experimenting on innocent children, the Turtles and April must step in. What they discover astonishes them: a secret decades in the making. This story is a follow up to my stories The Girl Next Door, Donatello's Demise, and Aftershock (a brief synopsis is included if you don't want to read all three).
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story is a follow-up to the story arc in my previous fanfics "The Girl Next Door," "Donatello's Demise," and "Aftershock." My canonicity is basically plausible up until right before the episode "The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones," and from that point on it deviates significantly from the show. If you don't want take the time to read the three previous stories, or if it's been a while since you read them, here is a detailed synopsis of them. _**ALSO: This is an incomplete story because I just couldn't finish it. I have, in the last chapter of this, included an outline of how I was planning to wrap the story up. So if you still want to read, that's great and I appreciate it, but for fair warning's sake this may not be the most satisfying experience for you. I apologize. My life has been falling to pieces and I'm just trying to pick them up. I hope you can understand. If you want complete stories please read the first three fics leading up to this, you may find them to be satisfying.**_

 **Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all related characters, and all derived works are the intellectual property of Nickelodeon, Viacom, Eastman, and Laird. This story is for entertainment purposes and not for monetary gain. In no way should this story be taken to be anything other than a fan-based expansion of and commentary on the original work. n00btmntfan is in no way associated with the makers of TMNT.**

In "The Girl Next Door," a Japanese woman named Satou Atsuko moves into the apartment directly downstairs from April. Satou is a computer programmer, collector of traditional Japanese weapons, and an avid disciple of ninjutsu. After an unfortunate encounter with April's mutated father, Atsuko befriends April. April, who is struggling with being torn between Donnie and Casey, confides in Atsuko more and more. However, unbeknownst to April, Satou Atsuko used to go by a different name—Tang Mei. Tang Mei was the older sister of Tang Shen.

Shredder and Splinter, it turns out, had made a childhood pact when they were in school: Splinter, who was enamored with Tang Mei, and Shredder, obsessed with Tang Shen, agreed that they would help each other win the object of their affection. However, Tang Mei ended up marrying a man named Kobayashi Kenshin. Splinter accepted this and moved on—only to discover that Tang Shen had loved him the whole time. When Tang Shen chose Splinter, Shredder saw it as a violation on Splinter's part of their childhood contract. When Shredder finally decided to finish Splinter off, he decided to make Splinter suffer first. So, he captured the Kobayashis and made Tang Mei watch while he killed Kenshin and their sons Kenji and Suki. Then, he planned to capture Splinter and make him watch while he raped the woman who had once been the object of Splinter's affection. However, when Shredder failed to capture Splinter (thinking him dead in the fire), Shredder dealt with his anger by repeatedly raping Tang Mei over the one year he kept her prisoner.

After she had been captive for a year, Tang Mei managed to escape. She changed her name and sought a new life, devoting herself martial arts and learning advanced computer programming. Years later, she gets a job offer in New York and moves there—into the apartment below April's.

Donnie is working on a supercomputer to help him find the retro-mutagen, and April hopes to enlist Satou's help in the matter. However, April's life is complicated by the triangle she feels stuck in with Donatello and Casey. On the one hand, Casey makes her giddy with excitement and she really likes him (plus, there is the bonus of his not being a giant turtle), but on the other, she feels that she owes Donnie for all of the things he has done for her since they met. Eventually, after much agonizing over it, April ends up dating Casey—however, their relationship ends up being rather short-lived.

The day after Casey and April become an "item," Casey is captured by Karai, who has learned of Casey's own sordid past. As a recovering alcoholic, Casey is very vulnerable to relapse. Using that against him, Karai asks him to help her capture April. Unable to resist the alcohol, Casey agrees to help her in exchange for satisfying his addiction.

Eventually, Satou figures out that April is connected to Splinter—whom Satou partly blames for Tang Shen's death as well as her own torment at Shredder's hands. Satou is with April when the Foot Clan, using Casey's tip, track April down. Satou thinks that April is part of a trap set by the Shredder, and wanting to escape she ends up knocking April out—who is then promptly taken away by Karai.

Satou realizes her mistake and manages to find the turtles using April's t-phone. The turtles think that Satou is with the foot—and by the time they figure everything out, it's almost too late. The turtles then rush off to save April, leaving Satou and Splinter alone in the lair. Satou and Splinter reconcile.

Meanwhile, Shredder is planning to rape April as another way to punish Splinter. He almost does, but then the turtles burst in to save the day. Michelangelo is grievously injured and April is severely traumatized; however, it is unsure whether Shredder survived the encounter.

When Satou and Leonardo go to find Casey, they discover the truth. They give Casey two days to either tell April himself or to just break up with her and never speak to her again. Casey is too ashamed of the truth and so he chooses the latter option. Donnie, who learns the truth from Leo, decides that April deserves to know the truth too, since she is so upset by Casey's mysterious dumping of her.

Furthermore, April has started to suffer from PTSD; her father is the only psychologist who will believe the strange situation is true. Donnie doubles his resolve to fix Mr. O'Neil so that Kirby can help April recover. Donnie swears to April that he will never rest until he finds a cure. Then, to his surprise, April declares that she loves Donnie and they kiss.

The story ends with Satou Atsuko reclaiming her identity as Tang Mei. The turtles adopt her as their aunt. She decides that she will finally heal from her old traumas and resolves to help April overcome her PTSD.

In "Donatello's Demise," we see April and Donnie's relationship off to a rocky start as she goes through PTSD and he works feverishly to perfect the retro-mutagen. Mei still feels a little unsure about who she is, but spends a lot of time with her new family, and steadily makes peace with her past. She helps April with coping and assists Donnie with his super-computer project so that he can develop the mutagen.

At Michelangelo's suggestion, Splinter asks Mei if she would like to move into the lair with them. Mei thinks about it for several days and then agrees. The super-computer is finished, and now Donnie can work on the retro-mutagen in earnest.

Things take an unexpected turn when April is approached at school by Casey, who has finally decided to stop avoiding her and tell her the truth. Unfortunately for him, April already knows, and she is furious with him. Nevertheless, talking with him triggers a panic reflex in April, and she spends the rest of the day terrified that this is all a ploy so that Shredder can get a hold of her again. The symptoms of her PTSD and this fear make her lose control, and she ends up going to her apartment and tries to kill herself by slitting her wrists.

She is found later that evening by Mei and Donnie, who rush her back to the lair. She has lost a lot of blood, and because of her unique DNA, there is nobody in the city who could be a proper donor. Donnie breaks down, out of ideas – fortunately, Mei steps up to the plate and suggests that they use Donnie's equipment to synthesize blood for April. They are successful, but April is in a coma for seventeen days.

During that time, Donnie perfects the retro-mutagen and they test it on a hostile to see if it works on a complete organism. After turning Fishface back into a human, they realize that it's totally safe and plan to use it on Kirby.

After the test run, the turtles get back to the lair to find April awake. Everyone is ecstatic, except that Donnie has an unexpected reaction of anger at first. After a while, he is able to forgive her, and for a little while, it looks like everything will go back to normal.

Then, when Donnie and Mei are trying to administer to retro-mutagen to Kirby, Donnie accidentally injects himself with it and gets turned back into a regular turtle. Splinter withdraws from everybody; Mikey has a spectacular breakdown.

Unsure of what to do and unable to turn to Splinter for help, Leo steps up to the plate and decides on a course of action. He decides that they will use Karai to communicate with the Kraang for them, since the Foot and the Kraang are sort of frenemies. To reach Karai, they decide to use Casey.

Unbeknownst to them, Karai has been having dreams about Mei ever since she first saw her – she doesn't know who Mei is, but feels like she should know her. She offers Casey anything he wants in exchange for more information about Mei, but he refuses to help her. Nevertheless, she leaves him with a number "just in case," and he finds himself unable to throw it away.

When the turtles approach him, Casey provides them with the phone number and they contact Karai. The plan is set in motion, and Karai begrudgingly agrees to help them. However, Shredder's scouts have gotten pictures of Mei. He explains to Karai who she is, lying and saying that Mei's husband helped Splinter kill Tang Shen. He explains how he killed Mei's husband, and that Mei is probably looking for revenge. Furious, Karai promises that she will capture Mei so that she will no longer pose a threat.

After setting up a trap for Mei and capturing her, Karai refuses to listen as Mei tries to tell Karai who she really is. Karai believes she is lying and ends up delivering Mei to Shredder, but Karai feels incredibly guilty and doubts herself.

Shredder, being the terrible excuse for a human being that he is, gloats over Mei and asks her where he can find Splinter and the turtles. When she refuses to help him, he beats her and the scene cuts away, but it is obvious as to what is happening. In the meantime, Baxter Stockman is hacking into Mei's phone, and is able to trace the location of the lair from there.

When Mei's phone is hacked, it sends out an automatic distress signal with coordinates. Kirby, who has been un-mutated, helps them figure out where to go – Shredder's lair. Splinter, Leo, Raph, and Mikey rush off to the rescue, leaving April, Kirby, and Donnie in the lair. Kirby has purchased a gun off the black market so that he can protect April; when April points out that guns are illegal in New York City, Kirby quips that so are sodas larger than 16 ounces.

While Splinter and the turtles arrive at Shredder's lair and rescue Mei, they discover that Shredder has already left and has gone to the lair. Splinter sends the turtles ahead and he stays behind to help Mei escape.

Shredder and Karai arrive at the lair and find it deserted. They venture in slowly and hear a gunshot. Karai sees April in the dojo and runs in to capture her, while Kirby keeps shooting at Shredder (and missing.) April and Karai struggle – Donnie helps by biting Karai on the Achilles' tendon, and when she is thrown off balance, she bumps into the picture of Splinter's family. She has the horrible realization that Mei was telling the truth.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey arrive at the lair and immediately attack Shredder. Hearing sounds coming from the dojo, Leo runs in and finds Karai staring at the picture. He asks if she will help them. She says she will, but only if she gets to kill Shredder. They all head back out into the main lair, where Shredder is unfortunately gaining the upper hand. Sometime during the fray, Kirby gets thrown across the room and lands next to the turnstiles; his gun lands next to him.

Splinter arrives just in time to get everyone out of a sticky spot, leaving Mei near the turnstiles. However, Shredder grabs hold of Karai and threatens to kill her unless they let him leave.

Mei grabs Kirby's gun and fires twice. The first shot knocks off Shredder's helmet; the second kills him.

Afterwards, Kirby and April take Mei to the hospital, since none of them have the expertise to treat her extensive injuries. When April and Kirby return to check on everyone, they report Mei's injuries. Karai asks to talk to April, and April extends a hand of friendship, much to Karai's surprise.

They all put together a 'welcome home' party at Mei's apartment. Karai finally gets to talk to Mei again, and she is shocked when Mei forgives her.

Karai decides to return to the Foot Clan to work under cover to tear the rest of the Foot Clan down as well as try to get help from the Kraang.

The story ends with April promising Donnie that she will wait for him, no matter how long it takes.

(Oh yeah, and something I forgot to mention during this synopsis is that Mei and Splinter sort of kind of might be forming a relationship - they know they care about each other in more than a familial way, but it's complicated.)

In "Aftershock," Mei, April, and Kirby continue research on a way to re-mutate Donatello, while Karai goes to the Kraang for assistance. After learning that they cannot duplicate a mutation exactly, but can get very close, they decide to enlist their help. Meanwhile, a new villain enters the scene in the form of Oroku Daiki, the man who calls himself 'the Ronin' and who is next in position to take over the Foot Clan. He makes Karai swear her allegiance to him, after revealing that he knows Splinter is her true father. He had been there on the night that Shredder attacked Splinter's home, and watched as Karai was taken from the rubble.

Karai reports this to the family, and she returns to Shredder's old lair with Leo, Raph, and Mikey in tow to protect her. However, when they arrive, she betrays them by gassing them and tying them up, then delivering them to the Ronin. The Ronin tells Karai that he will exterminate everyone in the Hamato bloodline down to the fifth generation, wherever they might be in the world. He instructs Karai to have the Kraang develop the necessary technology to assist him in this, then tells her to kill the turtles. Karai goes to attack Leo, but he uses her attack to cut the cords binding his feet, then kicks her and knocks her unconscious. He retrieves her tanto, cuts the bonds on his wrists, and proceeds to free his brothers. After a fight which none of them escapes completely unscathed, they return to the lair where Splinter treats their injuries.

Shortly thereafter, Karai shows up to return the turtles' weapons to them. They are all furious, especially Raph and Leo. She explains she was only trying to win the Ronin's trust, and that she wasn't going to actually tell the Kraang to do his project. She was only buying time until the Kraang could finish their serum to fix Donnie. Leo is not mollified.

During all of this, Mei is struggling to recover from all the injuries the Shredder inflicted on her, especially the psychological and emotional trauma. She is confined to a wheelchair while a fracture to her pelvis heals. With help from Kirby and Splinter, she begins to recover mentally. Her relationship with Splinter deepens. While she studies the information the Kraang gave to Karai, she uncovers something that could possibly help with a cure, but is unsure what to do with the information.

Finally, the Kraang have finished their re-mutation serum and they give it to Karai, but only on the condition that she deliver April to them. April agrees, and so they stage a kidnapping and Karai brings April to the Kraang. Once she is captured, April discovers that the Kraang are in fact working on Ronin's project. She destroys the computer that has her DNA information on it and then escapes the Kraang facility with the help of the turtles. They confront Karai, who says that the Ronin must have gone behind her back and spoken to the Kraang directly.

In reality, Ronin threatened Karai's life if she would not go to the Kraang, so she did, keeping it a secret from everyone else and hoping she could destroy the project before it was too late, with no one being the wiser.

They test the re-mutation serum on Xever, whom they had previously tested the retro-mutagen on. The re-mutation is a success, so they proceed to apply it to Donnie.

It fails. While Donnie is restored to himself physically, mentally, he is still absent. They can't figure out why, except that maybe since Xever was sentient to begin with but Donnie was not, this is why they cannot duplicate the results exactly. Everyone is crushed, but Mei vows she will find a solution.

Since they were counting on Donnie's help to destroy Ronin's project, they have to turn to Mei for help, who has just finally gotten out of the wheelchair. The whole gang goes to TCRI to wipe the project out.

Once there, they are attacked by both Kraang and the Foot. Raph thinks Karai is responsible and has betrayed them again, but Karai points out that these are Ronin's men, and she doesn't command them. During a fight, she takes a throwing dagger in the chest to save Raph's life, and he finally trusts her.

Finally, the Ronin joins the fray, knocking everybody unconscious except for Leo, Karai, and Splinter. He and Splinter fight, and Splinter emerges victorious. However, Karai is in really bad condition and so they have to take her to the hospital. Mei still needs to destroy the technology, and Leo goes back to help her while the others escape. The others are waiting for them when an explosion goes off in the building.

Leo and Mei do not come out.

Karai is in such bad shape that they rush her to the hospital, where April and Casey take her inside. The others return to the lair to treat their injuries, worrying about Leo and Mei the whole time.

Leo and Mei have managed to destroy the technology by blowing it up, and escape down the elevator shaft before the explosion goes off. Once they have finally reached the sewers, they have to take the long route home. They finally make it to the lair, and there is much rejoicing.

After recovering from all of this, a new development takes place. Donatello temporarily comes out of his coma-like state and highlights something on the computer, which Mei is able to, seven months later, figure out and apply to him. It works, except that Donatello's emotions don't come back. Three months pass, and they still aren't back, and he and April break up because she's convinced he can't love her anymore. She tries to rebound with Casey, who turns her down and announces he's moving to South Dakota with his foster parents.

Two years later, when April and Karai are almost 20 and the turtles are almost 19 (give or take), Leo and Karai get married. Splinter proposes to Mei, and she accepts. April and Donnie get back together, and the first glimmer of something resembling an emotion comes back to Donnie's mind just as the story ends.

(Please keep in mind that this is a 1000 word synopsis of a 100,000 word story, so a lot of detail is missing. But this should be enough for you to get the gist of what's going on.)


	2. Chapter 2

The Kraang.

Just thinking about them still made shivers creep up April's spine, even three years after her first encounter with the awful brain-blobs. But with a deep breath and a focused exhale, she chased the feeling of dread away and flipped open her tessen.

"Just come and try to get me, you freaks," April hissed, opening her eyes in a deadly glare.

Twenty-some Kraang stood in the street in front of her, with half a dozen of their white vans setting up a blockade on either side.

The first Kraang droid raised its weapon. "The challenge which has been issued by the one called April O'Neil has been accepted by Kraang."

"Good." The street lights flickered with a sudden surge of power, making pain twinge in April's forehead. "Stop running your mouth, then."

Purple lasers started blasting through the air. Moving with the fluidity she had learned in her lessons with Splinter, April dodged each blast. She pulled out a second tessen from her belt, this one coated with a glistening iridescent paint. She angled it at one of the laser blasts and the light bounced back at the Kraang who fired it, blasting the gun right out of its hands.

April did an aerial flip out of the way as another droid charged her. She slashed the sharp edge of her plain black tessen right through the droid's neck, then landed on the other side of its collapsing body. With her left-hand tessen, she reflected another laser blast.

"I could really use some help over here, guys!" April shouted. She tapped the Bluetooth (or as Mikey called it, the Greentooth) earpiece with her wrist. "Hello? Is anyone even listening on this?"

 _"I read you loud and clear, brah,"_ Mikey's voice came back.

"Anybody _else_?"

" _Dude, harsh. I saved your life once, in case you forgot."_

With a grunt, April dropped to her knees as another blast flew over her head. "I'm just a few blocks south of their weapons depot. I need backup!"

 _"I read you, April,"_ Donnie's crackled over the line, tinny and small. _"We've gotten into a bit of a tight spot ourselves…Raph, look out!"_

 _"Don. Raph. What's going on over there?"_ Leo said.

 _"They're everywhere!"_ Raph replied, following it up with a string of curses.

 _"Hold your ground. Mikey and I are on the way."_

"What about me?" April said.

 _"Fall back, April. We can't get to you in time. We'll pick you up at the intersection of—"_

Interference. Ear-splitting feedback.

"Hello?" April called.

Silence.

"That which is known as the signal has been blocked by Kraang," said one of the droids. "The one called April O'Neil is alone."

 _Crap…_

"April O'Neil will yield her DNA to Kraang for research. Come that which is 'quietly' and Kraang will reduce pain to a minimum."

"Why? Just what the heck is it that you think my DNA will do for you? How is it supposed to perfect the mutagen?"

"That is known as 'classified.'"

" _This_ is classified too!" April threw her tessen, slicing clean through the droid's head. She took off at a run and leapt into the air just in time to catch the spinning tessen with two extended fingers. A volley of laser fire chased after her.

A single blast caught her in the back. With a cry of pain, she fell to her knees. _Great. I'm about to be a frickin' damsel in distress._ _Again._ Anger pulsed through her at the thought. The street lights surged again, and more pain shot through her head. She shook it away, wondering fleetingly why it was that flickering lights seemed to bother her these days.

She forced herself up from the ground and turned to face the Kraang. All of them were closing in on her position. In her mind, April could almost hear Donnie scolding her. _I told you getting separated was a bad idea._

"Surrender, one known as April O'Neil," one of the Kraang said.

"Make me," April growled.

"Very well."

Laser fire commenced. April closed her eyes. She could almost see where each blast was, a powerful intuition guiding her. With her reflective tessen she deflected each blast, knocking each Kraang who fired at her flat on their backs. She opened her eyes. Only five droids remained standing.

 _Five? Cakewalk._

Sudden intuition screamed at the back of her mind. Another laser bolt flashed toward her from behind.

 _Not five. Six._

She realized her error too late. The blast landed between her shoulders and she felt herself collapsing as if she was watching herself fall to the ground. She heard screaming; maybe it was her own. She heard the sound of metal hitting the pavement just as her own head did.

* * *

April's eyelids fluttered open. The first thing to register was the screaming pain in her back. But then, she began to realize where she was.

A lab.

She sat up with a gasp, reaching for her tessens.

"Whoa, April!" Donnie's voice said.

April whipped her head around to the side, only to see Donnie sitting next to her. He held a stethoscope and wore a look of supreme concern. She looked around, realizing that she was in the lair, not a Kraang lab.

"What happened, Donnie?" April asked, trying to stretch out her back. She winced as she did. Searing hot pain screamed from between her shoulder blades.

"By the time we found you, you were passed out. But all the Kraang were…well, they were all dead."

"What? What do you mean they were all dead?"

"Just that. They were all spread out on the ground, dead. It looked like six of the droids weren't even damaged, just shut down."

April's mind spun. The lights flickered, causing more pain to stab through her forehead.

"Huh. Wish I could figure out why that keeps happening," Donnie said.

"It makes my head ache."

"Here, let me get you some painkillers." Donnie stood up and walked over to his carefully organized drawers and pulled out a bottle of acetaminophen. "Thank goodness you're okay. When we couldn't find you…I was scared."

April sat up a little taller. Even in the middle of this whole ordeal, the fact that Donnie had _felt_ something was huge. "You were?"

"Yeah. It startled me. I thought I was having a full blown anxiety attack before I realized no, I'm just scared. But after going so long without having any emotions…and with not having them consistently, when I do have them, it always startles me really badly at first. But now I can put two whole emotions on my list of things I occasionally feel: Happiness and fear."

April smiled. "That's encouraging, though! You just need to add anger and sadness to the repertoire and you'll have the full base of emotions—my dad always lists the range of human feelings as 'mad, glad, sad, or scared.'"

"I remember things being a lot more nuanced than that. Right now, my emotions are about as subtle as Mikey."

"Well, they've only been back for three months. Give them some time."

"I'm just waiting for them to stop sneaking up on me without any warning."

April laughed. "That's kind of what emotions do."

"Yeah, but if you're used to nothingness, then having something there is really off-putting. I mean, I wish I could have them consistently, not having them show up at inconvenient times."

"Emotions are never convenient."

"I know. But if I had them consistently, I could manage them better. You see what I mean?"

April reached out and brushed the side of Donnie's face with the back of her hand. She could almost feel something like worry emanating from him. "Are you feeling anything now?"

"Concern," Donnie said. "If you can call that an emotion."

"Close enough for me."

"Enough about me, April. You're hurt. I need to put something on those laser burns—they're pretty serious. Lie down on your stomach—I'll have to cut your shirt open from the back. Sorry about that."

"You're just going to cut off my shirt? Shouldn't you buy me flowers first?"

"Hah," Donnie said flatly. "This is serious, April. It's not like I'm actually _trying_ to get an eyeful or something."

April rolled her eyes. "I know, Donnie. I was trying to be funny."

"Yeah, well, there's never anything funny about you being hurt. Now lie down."

Sighing, April lay down on her stomach while Donnie went about treating her injuries. She winced as the lidocaine gel stung for just a moment before bringing relief. When he was done wrapping the burns, he brought a soft cotton shirt over for her and looked away while she put it on.

"All right," Donnie said. "We should go talk to the others now. You'll want to hear about what we found at that underground lab we discovered."

"Why, what happened? Did you find the kids?"

Donnie frowned and stared at the floor. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean? Donnie, what happened?"

"Well, among other things… _you_ were there."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter! I have lots of other stories and I also write original novels, so if you're curious about any of that stuff, be sure to check out my profile! Reviews are always appreciated. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait—what do you mean _I_ was there?"

April sat on one of the sofas in the den, glancing back and forth between the turtles. Leo stood near the TV with his arms folded, while Raph slouched in his favorite chair. Mikey was lying on the other couch, sighing heavily. Donnie sat next to April with his hand on her shoulder.

"What we mean is that you were there—or more accurately, someone who looked like you," Donnie said.

Leo nodded. "She could have been your twin, April. And she was on the Kraang's side."

"Yeah, she was shooting at us and everything," Mikey said, making a gun with his fingers and pretending to shoot April. "Not cool."

"She was _fast_ ," Raph added.

"Back up," April said. "I still have no idea what happened with you guys after we split up. Did you find the little kids the Kraang kidnapped?"

Raph snarled a curse and threw his sai across the room, where they sank spire-first into the practice dummy. "We were too late."

"What do you mean you were too late?"

"We only found a few of them," Donnie said, almost impossibly cool and collected. "All but one little girl had been...well, the Kraang had done experiments on them. They didn't survive."

April jumped to her feet. " _What?_ Why—why would the Kraang _do_ such a thing?"

"Because they're evil," Raph growled.

"Yeah..but…they've always left kids alone," April said. "I mean…as far as we know." Her stomach twisted. There was a moment of silence, during which the lights flickered again. "What happened to the girl who survived?"

"Your doppelganger came in and helped fight us off before we could get her," Donnie said.

"Look, guys," Leo said, heaving a sigh. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we failed this mission. But that last little girl needs us. So we've got to regroup and save her."

"I wish Mei and Splinter were here," April said. "We could use their help."

"Yeah, or Casey," Raph said.

"Or Karai," Mikey added.

Leo's face fell.

"Whoops, I, uh…sorry, Leo."

"Forget it," Leo said, scowling. "I'm going to go meditate for a few minutes, then see if I can come up with a new plan. I'll be open to suggestions when I get back, so in the meantime…brainstorm."

April's heart sank even further as she watched Leo trudge from the room. The lights flickered again.

Donnie looked up at the ceiling. "Huh. I've checked the power grid again and again and I still can't figure out why they keep doing that."

"You literally say that almost every time it happens, Donnie," April said. "It's as annoying as the headaches I keep having. Don't you think we have more important things to worry about?"

Mikey, Raph, and Donnie all stared at her, blinking.

"What?"

"Nobody said anything, April," Raph said.

"I mean, I was thinking about the lights flickering," Donnie said. "But I didn't say anything."

April's head throbbed with pain. "You know what? I think I need to lie down for a few minutes." She closed her eyes.

"Not a bad idea." Donnie gave April a pat on the shoulder.

April got up from the couch and headed to her room in the lair, where she stretched out on the old lumpy mattress. Her mind was dizzy with thoughts—thoughts of the mysteriously dead Kraang; acute, painful sorrow for the children the Kraang's experiments had killed; and fear for the life of that one little girl who'd lived. But most nagging of all was the idea that a clone of her was working for the Kraang. If they had enough DNA to clone her, why did they still need her?

Just what game were the Kraang playing in all of this?

* * *

Leo sat in the dojo, drawing deep breaths, trying to enter into a trance as easily as he knew Master Splinter did.

He had no such luck.

With a grunt of frustration, he threw himself down on his back and looked up at the ceiling. All he could think about was Karai's face as he suggested that they adopt a child.

 _"It would be easy enough," Leo had said. "You just go to an adoption agency and adopt a child as a single mother. They allow people to do that."_

 _Karai's face had been a scowl. "Kids? Three months together, and you think we're ready for kids?"_

 _"Well, the process takes a long time. We might as well start now. It will probably be a year before we find the right baby..."_

 _"I'm not ready for kids, Leo. What kind of mother would I even be?"_

 _"An amazing mother. We'll have Splinter and Mei to help us out along the way. Please?"_

Leo sighed. Had it really only been two weeks ago? He clapped a hand to his forehead, wishing he had never suggested this whole thing in the first place. Maybe if he hadn't, Karai would be at his side to help him figure out just what to do about the kids.

Of course, if he hadn't, they wouldn't even know about the kids in the first place, and the Kraang would have been able to keep running their phony adoption agency as a front for gathering up children.

"Leo?"

Leo sat up and looked over his shoulder. Donnie stood in the doorway, holding his mutagen tracker. "What is it, Donnie?"

"Well, I had an idea. I modified my mutagen tracker to sense human DNA instead. If we break into one of the Kraang's facilities again, we can use it to quickly find any kids. Maybe…maybe even Karai, too. It should work, provided I can work out the glitches."

"What kind of glitches?"

"In theory, it should work…but the signal is really faint. It barely picked up April when I tested it a few minutes ago."

"Speaking of April," Leo said, "have you noticed anything...weird about her lately?"

"She's always getting headaches. Of course, that's been going on for almost a month now."

"No, I've just noticed this in the last week or so. The other day, I was thinking about how thirsty I was, and she offered to get me a glass of water. I chalked it up to coincidence. But then she told Mikey to stop talking nonsense while we were all watching TV, and he hadn't said anything."

"I don't remember that."

"You were in the lab. Anyway, we all looked at her funny, and she was like, 'What?' None of us said anything, because then she said that she felt really tired and left the room."

"Hmm." Donnie put a hand on his chin. "Something like that just happened a few minutes ago, actually. Mikey and Raph were pretty weirded out by it. I told them she must have imagined hearing it or something, but they didn't seem convinced."

"I'm not either."

"Well, what else could it possibly be? Maybe she's just really intuitive and is imagining we're saying stuff when we're not."

"If she's imagining we're saying stuff when we're not, then her dad should run some psychological tests on her or something." Leo frowned. "But how could she know what we're thinking?"

"She doesn't know, is my guess. She's always been really intuitive, though. Remember when she had that feeling about Rockwell being the monkey? I think that's all this is. Occam's razor and all that."

"Occam's razor?"

Donnie sighed and rolled his eyes. "You know, 'the simplest explanation is usually the best'?"

"Maybe." Leo climbed to his feet. "So, we have your human tracker. I say we head back to the lab in a few hours—all of us—and try to do a silent infiltration. I'm thinking you'll go first with the tracker and then report back to us. Then we can all move in and see if we can find the girl, or any other kids. But this time, we'll need something to give us an edge. Can you coat all our weapons in that laser-reflecting paint?"

"That's going to make stealth a lot more difficult. It lights up like reflective tape. The Kraang will definitely see it."

"What about my swords? I can keep them in their sheaths until I need them."

"It doesn't come off once it's on, though. So unless you want your swords permanently reflective…"

"Okay, I get it." Leo chewed on his lip for a moment, trying to figure out what else they could use. "I guess we'll just have to go in as is."

"I'll make sure the headsets are fully recharged, and I'll see if I can't calibrate this scanner a bit better."

"Sounds good. I'll tell the other guys the plan."

Donnie nodded and left the dojo at a brisk pace.

Leo sighed as his thoughts drifted back to Karai.

 _It had taken nearly a week and a half of wheedling, but Karai finally agreed at least to go talk to a social worker. After the first visit, she had come back with a smile on her face, holding several pictures of adorable four-year-old to seven-year-old children who needed foster homes._

 _"These ones don't need diapers," Karai had said. "They come potty trained already…no bottle feeding…I see no downside."_

 _"Yeah, but shouldn't we get a baby?" Leo had replied. "That way it's used to seeing me, and grows up thinking I'm normal, instead of…some kind of freak."_

 _"Can we at least think about one of these?"_

 _Leo finally capitulated to the idea, and they had announced their plans to the family the morning before Mei and Splinter left for their honeymoon. Karai went back to the adoption agency the same day._

That was when everything went wrong.

 _And now,_ thought Leo, _it's time to make everything right again._


	4. Chapter 4

Donnie pulled out his t-phone and glanced at the time before turning on the Greentooth capability and syncing his headset to the phone. It was already ten past midnight, and Leo had said they would be leaving precisely at midnight. However, Leo had gone into the dojo for a few minutes, while everyone else stood outside the Shellraiser waiting.

Donnie pulled on his headset, watching with envy as April hooked her simple earpiece on. "Man, there are some days I would kill for a pinna."

"A piñata?" Mikey said.

"A pinna. You know, the outside part of the ear. Like humans have. Then we could wear the earpieces instead of these bulky things."

"I dunno. I like the headphones—they're retro." Mikey screwed up his face for a minute. "Dude. How hilarious would piñatas on the side of your head be? People would beat you up for candy!"

"Let's stay focused, people," Leo said, hopping over the turnstiles. "We've got a little girl to rescue. Don—did you get that tracker fixed?"

"It'll do, but only just," Donnie replied, frowning.

"I'll take it. Let's move out."

Donnie offered his hand to April as she stepped up into the Shellraiser; she rewarded him with a smile. Donnie couldn't help but smile back—after everything they had been through as a couple, things were solid now, and whatever crap the Kraang would throw at them, they would face it together. The thought warmed him down to his toes, and he followed after her.

Once they had reached an intersection a few blocks from the lab, Donnie stealthed his way through the alleys until he found the little window they'd gotten in through earlier. Fortunately, the Kraang didn't know that was how they'd entered the first time, so they hadn't seen fit to block it off. In a moment, Donnie slipped inside and surveyed the room.

It was dark except for the eerie purple glow of computer consoles. Donnie held his tracker in front of him, keeping one hand free in case he needed to reach for his bo-staff in a hurry. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and melted back into the shadows away from the computers. Three Kraang walked down the corridor, dragging a box on wheels behind them. Donnie's human tracker slowly started to blink. He put his hand over the light so the Kraang wouldn't see it.

Then he heard it. The distinct sound of a child crying.

Memories of the botched experiments on the kids rushed to Donnie's mind. Along with them came the most powerful surge of anger Donnie had ever felt in his life. All the logic telling him to stay hidden evaporated. Red hot rage flared along his perceptions as he felt himself drop the tracker and draw his staff in one smooth motion. He burst from the shadows, triggered the naginata blade in his staff, and struck a vicious blow at the first Kraang. He took its head off in one clean slice. With the blunt end of his staff, he struck a second Kraang's vulnerable squishy face; the droid shut down and collapsed to the floor as the Kraang passed out.

The final Kraang pulled out a communicator. "Experiment 272, Kraang is that which is under attack! That which is known as Experiment 274-"

Donnie wheeled his staff around and brought it down so hard against the droid's head that the staff snapped in two, leaving a huge dent in the droid's head. The Kraang popped out of the droid and made a break for it. The rage in his mind told him to kill the Kraang, but somewhere, a calm rational voice reminded him not to kill unless absolutely necessary. Donnie gave it a swift kick instead.

"After what you did to those kids, you ought to be that which is known as dead," Donnie snarled. He slid half of his broken staff back into its sheath and ran to the rolling case.

 _"Don, what the heck is going on?_ " Leo's voice said through the headset.

Donnie popped the lid of the case off. Relief surged through him. "I found the girl."

The little girl stared up at him with huge blue eyes that were vividly familiar. Her red hair curled in wisps around her ears.

 _April,_ Donnie thought. _Another April clone, but not grown up?_

" _Don, Donnie! Are you there?"_

"Yeah. I've got the girl. I'll bring her out. But you guys should know-"

Something collided with Donnie's head and his headset went flying.

"Get away from her, you mutant freak!"

Dazed, Donnie shook his head and focused his vision. April's double was grabbing the girl from the box. "Put her down!" He shouted, charging her.

She pulled out a laser gun and with one hand and started blasting at him. He leapt to the side and grabbed the other broken half of his bo-staff and flung it at her in a spin, knocking the gun from her hand.

"Hide, 274," April's double said. She set the little girl down, then took a defensive stance and glared at Donnie with challenge in her eyes. The little girl ran.

Donnie started after the girl, but April's double attacked in a blur of motion. She cuffed the sides of his head, making him dizzy. Reeling, he fought for his balance as he attempted a high kick. She grabbed his leg and threw him to the floor. She drew a sharp knife from her belt and dove on top of him. He grabbed the broken part of his bo-staff from its holster just in time to block her attack. She shifted and aimed a vicious slash at his right arm. He jerked his left arm up and hit her in the face with the broken staff, then raised a knee to catch her in the gut. In a second, she was off of him, backing away slowly.

"You're a freak," April's double hissed.

"Who _are_ you?" Donnie said. His eyes darted down to the knife in her hands, and he spied '272' tatooed onto her wrist. "Wait—you're experiment 272?"

The double's eyelid twitched. "I'm going to kill you." She charged again and Donnie leapt to the side, following the motion with a sweeping kick that took her legs out from beneath her. She fell to the floor with a grunt. Donnie stood over her, waiting for her next move—and got a good look at her for the first time. Wisps of gray blended in with the ginger-red locks on her head. Subtle differences in the shape of her lips and jawline distinguished her from April, and now that Donnie thought of it, her voice was a little lower than April's, too. If she was a clone, she was an imperfect one, and somehow had prematurely aged.

She jumped to her feet and slashed her knife at Donnie again; he blocked her with two quick strikes of his forearms to her wrists, grabbed her by the arms, and flipped her to the ground again. Snarling, she got back up. The motion flipped her hair out of her face, revealing a blinking purple device at her temple.

"You're being mind-controlled," Donnie said.

"Shut up."

"I don't think you want to be here at all, do you?"

"I said, shut up!"

"Who are you, really?"

She threw the knife at him. In the time it took him to evade the blade, she pulled out a communicator from her pocket. "Kraang! Intruder alert on level 1!"

"Sewer apples," Donnie muttered. He kicked the communicator from her hand, sending it flying across the room. "Why'd you have to do that?"

Within seconds, Kraang poured into the room. Donnie made a mad dive for his headset and slipped it on. "Guys, I am down by one weapon and up by like, fifty Kraang—get your shells in here!" Taking the half of his bo-staff with the naginata blade in it, he extended the blade and held it like a short, awkward spear. _Master Splinter did always say we'd have to improvise,_ he thought.

One after the other, his brothers burst in through the window, followed by April. Leo's weapons flashed in the dim purple light as the swords cut through one of the droids like it was nothing. One after the other, Raph's sai punctured through droids' heads, and his furious feet kicked soft Kraang in the face. Mikey's kusarigama swept several droids off their feet. April's reflective tessen sparked with light in the dark as she sent blast after blast back into the mass of attacking Kraang.

Donnie wheeled around. April's older double was gone.

"Did you find the girl?" Leo called.

"Long story!" Donnie answered.

"She's over there!" April pointed toward a stack of crates.

Donnie strained his eyes in the dark, but couldn't see the girl. Nevertheless, he charged through the wall of Kraang in his way, taking out one with his half length naginata and breaking through to the other side. He dove behind the crates for cover, where he saw the little girl huddled up against the stack. She whimpered at the sight of him.

"I'm going to get you out of here," Donnie said, as gently as possible. He went to pick her up, but she bit his arm. "Hey! You little-I'm trying to save your life!"

She fled from him, out into the mass of chaos and violence. Donnie charged after her, snatched her up like a sack of potatoes and tucked her under one arm, while punching his way through the line again with his broken staff in the other. "I've got her! I've got her!"

"Fall back!" Leo shouted.

April ran to the window and crawled out first, and Donnie handed the little girl up to her before climbing out himself. In a minute, the rest of his brothers were out too, and they ran for the Shellraiser.

The little girl clung to April, apparently pacified.

A single blast flew through the air, catching April between the shoulder blades almost exactly where she had been injured before. She went down in a swoon. Mikey caught the little girl.

"Run, Mikey," April whispered. "Get that little girl out of here."

More Kraang seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Seize the one known as April O'Neil! Retrieve 274!"

"Get out of here," Donnie called to the others. "I'll get April—just save that little girl! We'll catch up!"

Mikey obeyed, following after Raph and Leo.

Within seconds, Donnie and April were hemmed in by dozens of Kraang. Donnie could not hold them off. April's eyes flew open, and she let out a panicked scream. All the street lights flickered out. There was the sound of metal hitting the pavement, and the streetlights flickered back on to reveal dozens of Kraang lying motionless on the ground.

April had passed out.

Dumbfounded, Donnie went to pick her up, but within seconds more Kraang had poured out of the lab and swarmed them. Cradling April in his arms, he could not fight against the Kraang who clubbed the back of Donnie's head with its gun.

Donnie went down, knocked unconscious by the blow.

He woke again to find himself strapped to a table in the Kraang's lab, with five Kraang all around holding various medical instruments poised above him.

 _Sewer apples._

* * *

 **Hope everybody liked that chapter; reviews are always welcome!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Leonardo grimaced as the little girl's wails filled the Shellraiser. Mikey struggled to hold on to her, shushing her over and over again.

"It's gonna be okay, little dudette," Mikey said. "We're gonna take good care of you, don't you worry."

"Donnie or April should have made contact by now," Leo said, burning rubber as he turned a corner just a little too fast. "We need to go back."

"But what about the little girl?" Raph said. "I want to go help them as much as you do, but we've got to get her somewhere safe."

"Yeah, but who could we possibly leave them with? Mei and Splinter are still upstate at the O'Neil's old farmhouse, Casey is in South Dakota, and Karai—" Leo choked on the word.

Mikey raised a free hand. "What about Kirby?"

Leo nodded. "Great idea, Mikey."

"Those aren't words you ever expect to hear," Raph said, a devilish grin crossing his face.

"Dude, I'm not stupid," Mikey countered. "I'm just…inventive and unique. Something Renet seems to get and you don't."

"I don't care what your internet girlfriend thinks. You still haven't seen pictures of her and I'm pretty sure she's a 50 year old dude who likes younger guys. Besides, if she knew you were a mutant turtle…"

"Stop being jealous, Raph," Mikey said. He held up the little girl. "Besides, don't you think rescuing this adorable little girl is way more important?"

A little grin sneaked onto Leo's face. Mikey had matured a lot in two years. While he was still as…whimsical…as ever, more and more he was showing good judgment skills. _Maybe that internet girlfriend is being a good influence on him, after all,_ Leo thought.

The Shellraiser screeched to a halt in the alley behind April and Kirby's apartment. The three of them clambered out of the old subway car, with the little girl still struggling the whole way. Mikey kept his hand clapped over the girl's mouth.

"Dudes…I'm gonna need rabies shots," Mikey muttered. "She's like, chewing on my hand."

Leo's heart sank. The poor thing was probably terrified of them. Even among the horrors of the Kraang, she was at least used to the sight of the droids, but probably not mutants. Maybe the sight of Kirby would calm her down some. "Let's get up the fire escape. I'll let down the ladder for you, Mikey."

Within moments, they reached the third floor and tapped on the window. Kirby peered out through the blinds before opening the window.

"Hello, Leonardo," Kirby said, smiling pleasantly. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Mr. O'Neil. We kind of found something while raiding a Kraang lab—they've been kidnapping kids, and we managed to rescue this little girl. Donnie and April got left behind, so we need you to watch the girl."

Kirby's eyes shot wide. "Of course. Come in."

The three of them climbed in through the window, Mikey following last with the struggling girl. Leo turned around to look and jumped as he saw the little girl in full light. "Wow…she kinda looks…"

Kirby gasped. "She looks just like April did when she was a little girl." His face grew stern. "What's going on here?"

"Well, we were attacked by an April clone…maybe this one's just not grown up yet."

Kirby fell to his knees and took the little girl into his arms. "Shh, little one, it's okay." He gently placed his hands on either side of her face and got a good look at her. She calmed down almost immediately, looking at him with wide blue eyes. "If it is a clone…hey, sweetie, can you understand me?"

The little girl nodded, smearing tears out of her eyes.

"Do you like being tickled?"

The little girl cocked her head in confusion.

Kirby gave her stomach a poke. She let out a little giggle. "Can you show me your belly button?"

Shyly, the little girl raised the hem of her shirt until her belly button was showing.

"This isn't a clone," Kirby said. "If it was, she'd have a birthmark to the left of her belly button."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Mikey said, wrinkling his face.

Kirby shot him a dirty look. "How would you know?"

"Well, that time Shredder kidnapped her? She was…um…not dressed while we were rescuing her. I tried not to look, but I noticed it while I was unlocking the chains on her wrists…sorry, Mr. O…"

Kirby sighed. "It's not your fault, Mikey. Just…don't ever say stuff like that again, please?"

"Yeah, especially around Donnie," Raph said.

Kirby scowled.

"That's enough, Raph," Leo said hastily. "So, Mr. O'Neil, can you watch her for us?"

Kirby took the little girls hands in his. "Not a problem. I—" He gasped.

"What? What is it?"

Kirby gently turned her arm toward them. On her wrist was tattooed the number 274.

"Yeah, all the kids had numbers on their wrists," Leo said, fighting back the rage that coursed through him at the thought of the poor kids who hadn't survived. "But theirs were four digits." Realization dawned on him. If those were experiment numbers…then thousands of children had been experimented on by the Kraang. His stomach tossed.

Kirby looked up. "What do you mean, all the kids?"

"Well…like I said, the Kraang have been kidnapping children and experimenting on them."

Kirby drew several deep breaths. "But this number…274…April's mother had a tattoo on her wrist, too. She told me it was the name of a stupid band she was in during her 20's." He shook his head. "How old is this little girl? She can't be more than three…maybe even younger."

"I'm afraid I don't know, Mr. O'Neil."

"This April clone who attacked you—what did she look like?"

"Um…like April," Mikey said.

Kirby glared at Mikey again. "I mean…was she exactly the same as April, or was she older?"

"I don't know," Raph said. "She moved so fast we couldn't get a good look at her."

Kirby gave a dismissive wave. "No. No, it's impossible."

"What's impossible."

"It's just for a minute I thought…April looks almost just like her mother. But there's no way the double you saw could be her. I saw Renee's autopsy report for myself. I watched them bury her." He sighed. "Renee has been dead for years and years."

Leo was respectfully quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. O'Neil. I really am. But I need to put the pieces of the puzzle together. You said that Mrs. O'Neil had 274 on her wrist, too?"

"What? No. Hers was 272."

* * *

It had been agony for as long as she could remember.

"That which is known as Experiment 272" were the most nurturing words she had ever heard during her childhood. She experienced painful injections given without explanation every three hours, on the hour. Bizarre testing was a regular part of life—sometimes psychological tests, sometimes tests to see if she could guess what was on the other side of cards, Rorschach tests, tests after tests after tests. If she failed, she was taken to a room and given electroshock therapy for hours on end, followed by more injections that turned her arm purple and swollen.

On top of this, she was given a regular education—taught how to read, write, do math, understand biology, all of the stuff that the Kraang summed up "that which is 'human education.'" She was also exposed to television, in order to study human behavior.

The rest of the time was nothing more than isolation.

As she grew older, sometimes she thought she could sense vague thoughts or feelings coming from the Kraang around her. But they were fleeting and irrelevant; all she could sense was the same oneness that emanated from each and every one of the horrible creatures.

By the time she reached 18, she was brought before Kraang Prime, the hugest Kraang she had ever seen. She sensed waves of malevolence surging from the horrible creature, waves of greed and cruelty—and she knew that this—this monster—was the reason for all her years of suffering.

"Kraang Prime's top scientists have determined that the one known as Experiment 272 is insufficient for Kraang's purposes," Kraang Prime had declared. "But DNA coding may produce desired results in offspring."

Experiment 272 had shuddered. Now they were going to breed her, like she was cattle?

"Therefore, the one known as Experiment 272 will be released into an organic environment until it finds a suitable mate and produces offspring. The one known as Experiment 272 will be given a name—it will now be known as the one known as…" Kraang Prime looked expectantly at a subservient Kraang holding a baby name book.

The Kraang held up the book and declared, "Renee."

And then, after a lifetime of horrors, she was given freedom. She got a job. She earned her way through college, studying fine arts and theatre. She swore to herself she would never choose a mate, because that was what the Kraang wanted. She swore she would never have children. She promised herself this as a covenant of life and death.

Everything changed when she was in a play with a student from the psychology department. Three words transformed her life and dissolved all her resolution.

"Hi, I'm Kirby."

* * *

 **Hey! Hope everyone is still enjoying the story. Also, I am so flipping excited right now you have no idea. I literally can't even. I have an ORIGINAL NOVEL published - think magic and dragons and stuff. I worked on it for six years, you guys. Unlike my fanfictions, it has been edited and revised like a dozen times.**

 **If you want to learn more go to my profile bio for more info. It would mean a lot to me.**


	6. Chapter 6

April had the feeling that she was suspended in unconsciousness. Her body seemed to float through time and space, but she could not move. All around her, voices went through the soft ringing of the air. Voices she recognized at once.

The Kraang.

She struggled to wake up, but it was as if a heavy sedative kept her limbs pinned to her sides, rendering her helpless. One awful voice rang out above the others, just distinct enough from the other Kraang that April recognized it too—Kraang Prime. A surge of revulsion shot through April. The last time she had heard that voice, she had been hooked up to some kind of monstrous machine. Kraang Prime had told her that her mental energy was the secret to mutating Earth.

But now, as April floated through the haze of unconsciousness and voices, she could sense apprehension from Kraang Prime.

 _And Kraang is certain that the mental energy of the one called April O'Neil will be sufficient for the purpose which is the purpose of Kraang?_ Kraang Prime's words—or thoughts—entered into April's perceptions.

 _No, Kraang Prime,_ one of the Kraang replied.

Blinding red anger shot through everything. _What is the reason for this?_

 _The mental development of the one known as April O'Neil is not as great as Kraang thought. It has grown great, much greater than before; its power is a danger to Kraang. But it is insufficient for the purpose of the purpose of Kraang—the purpose of mutating the planet._

 _And the DNA of April O'Neil?_

 _It is insufficient alone. Only the mental energy and the DNA together will suffice._

 _Then Kraang must prepare preparations for the administering of the injection which is the injection to fully unleash the powers which are the mental powers of April O'Neil._

 _Kraang Prime, this is that which is too dangerous. The powers of the one known as April O'Neil are sufficient to kill Kraang already. Kraang does not know what will happen when the administration of the injection is administered._

 _Kraang will do that which is as Kraang Prime says. Bring the one which is known as Karai and tell April O'Neil if she threatens Kraang the one called Karai will be terminated. Will that which is the implant which has been implanted in the brain of the one called Karai function as designed?_

 _Yes, Kraang Prime. If the one known as April O'Neil attempts to kill Kraang as before, then the implant will detonate and kill the one known as Karai._

 _Implant the implant in that which is known as Experiment 272 as well. Perhaps now is the time which is the time for the introduction of Experiment 272 to the one known as April O'Neil. Begin at once. Kraang Prime's patience is wearing thin._

April's heart pounded. She couldn't even understand the rest of the Kraang's chatter after that; she was so lost in horror and astonishment she could hardly think straight. Donnie had said that the Kraang they found around her were dead—did she really have that kind of power? And the Kraang did have Karai, after all. It had been everyone's fear the day that Karai disappeared when Kraang burned the adoption agency to the ground, taking all the children with them. At least Karai was alive—but who knew what they had done to her since her capture?

What could have been moments or hours later, April felt herself coming to. Slowly, the world around her materialized. She was in a Kraang lab, surrounded by Kraang. Off to one side, an unconscious Karai was held up between two Kraang droids.

"One known as April O'Neil," one of the Kraang said. "Do not attempt to resist with the resistance of killing the Kraang using mental energy or—"

"Yeah, yeah, it will kill Karai too," April snapped. She struggled against the restraints. "I didn't even know that I _could_ kill Kraang with my 'mental energy.' But listen to me, you gross brain-blob. I don't need mental energy to kill you."

"Kraang finds this that which is 'amusing.' The one known as April O'Neil can do nothing." The droid turned to another of the droids. "Kraang, is Experiment 272 that which is known as on the way to this place which is the place which is here?"

At that moment, the doors to room slid open and two Kraang walked in, propping up between them a red-haired person. April strained to get a better look. Could this be the clone that the turtles had mentioned? The clone's hair fell away from her face as her head lolled, and April's heart nearly stopped. She had seen that face dozens of times behind glass, a face that was almost exactly her own but subtly different— _her mother's face._

"Mom?" April cried, struggling even harder. " _Mom?_ "

"One known as April O'Neil," said one of the Kraang, "meet the one which is known as Experiment 272, also known as the one known as Renee. This one also will die if April O'Neil uses her mental energy to destroy Kraang."

"That's impossible..."

"Kraang also finds this to be that which is 'amusing.' Kraang! Tattoo the numbers which are the numbers of April O'Neil, the one also known as Experiment 273."

One of the Kraang came forward with some kind of laser tattoo gun, which burned the numbers into her wrist in seconds. April flinched at the pain.

"Now, Kraang, bring the serum which is the serum to unleash the full power of the one known as April O'Neil's mental energy."

One of the droids approached, holding an enormous syringe. Before April could even react they had plunged the needle deep into the muscle tissue of her arm and depressed the plunger. Burning hot pain spread from the site all through her body, slowly creeping up toward her head. When it reached her brain, her mind lit up with white fire. She started to scream as her perceptions exploded. Thousands of Kraang's minds filled her perceptions, their thoughts as oddly composed as their speech. She could sense Kraang Prime, somewhere far away, communing with the others. Somewhere, she sensed Donnie's presence and sensed fear racing through his mind. She sensed the unconscious rhythms of her mother and Karai's brains, as the brain stems communicated _lungs breathe heart beat lungs breathe heart beat_ over and over again.

And somehow, she felt that she was truly seeing the world as it was for the first time in her life, as if something deep inside of her had been waiting for this moment from the beginning.

 _Sedate the one known as April O'Neil and remove her to the location which is the location of testing._ The telepathic order shot through all the Kraang's minds.

A Kraang droid approached, holding another massive syringe.

 _NO!_ April shouted through her mind. All the Kraang squealed in pain, reeling back as if she had dealt them a blow. She reached out with her thoughts, swatting the syringe away from the Kraang's hand as if doing this was something she had known how to do her entire life. Shock flooded through her as she watched the syringe fall to the floor. If she could do _that..._

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the restraints that held her down. She imagined them opening and releasing her, and within seconds they sprang open. April sat up, triumphant, with waves and waves of mental energy coursing through her brain.

One of the Kraang held up a remote of some kind. "One called April O'Neil. Cease or the ones known as-"

April turned her gaze on the droid who challenged her. _No._ She jerked her head to the side and the remote went flying.

For a moment, nothing happened. April stared the Kraang down, while each of them glanced at the others for reassurance.

 _This is known as what is 'not good.'_

 _Kraang Prime was in error._

 _Kraang is that which is 'doomed.'_

 _The one known as April O'Neil is psychotic._

A grin crept onto April's face. She held out her hands in front of her and shouted, "Go!"

All of the Kraang turned and ran, crashing into each other as they competed for the door.

The Kraang droids holding April's mother and Karai let them fall to the floor and joined the mass of hastily retreating Kraang. April got up from the exam table and ran where her mother and Karai lay on the ground.

"Mom," April said, choking back sobs. She shook her mother, desperately trying to get her to wake up.

Within a few moments, Renee's eyelids fluttered open. She looked at April for a moment, her focus dazed. April could sense that her mother's mind was strangely blank, with something robotic about it. Her mother sat up and brushed her hair from her face, revealing a blinking device at her temple.

"A mind control device," April whispered. She reached out to remove it.

With a snarl, Renee swatted April's hand away. April sensed the alien thought shoot through her mother's mind. _Subdue the one known as April O'Neil._

"Mom? Mom, you don't have to do what they say. I'll get that thing off you."

Renee lunged forward and landed a heavy fist on April's jaw. April flew backward and hit the floor. Renee scrambled for the syringe of sedative on the floor, her hand almost closing on it before April swept it out of her reach with a thought. Renee let out a cry of pain and grabbed her head.

Finally, April managed to climb to her feet. She closed her eyes and focused on the mind control device, imagining that she was pulling it off.

Renee screamed in pain again. April could sense the implant in her mother's brain sending out short bursts of electricity. April immediately stopped trying to remove the mind control device, her heart pounding at the horrible realization that went through her. If she actively used her mental energy at all, a power surge would go through the implant. She might not even have to do anything as drastic as whatever she had done to kill the Kraang before to accidentally kill her mother or Karai.

"Guess I'll have to remove it the old-fashioned way," April muttered. Heart still racing, she charged her mother and tackled her to the floor. She grabbed hold of the device and started to pull. More electricity shot through the implant.

"They're...linked somehow?"

"Yes, one called April O'Neil," Renee said, her voice cold. "Remove the device and the absence of its magnetic pull will detonate the implant in my brain. Kraang designed it specially this way to prevent you from doing what you're trying to do. You can never win."

"Mom, it's me. Your daughter."

"I know who you are. And if you don't cooperate with me, they'll kill me and the one called Karai. Kraang wants you alive, so I'm not going to kill you. But don't think I won't make you miserable." Renee punched April in the gut, knocking her away.

April sprang up to her feet, clutching at her stomach. "Mom, please. You have to snap out of it."

Renee dove for the sedative syringe and grabbed it. Climbed to her feet. "Cooperate, or I will hurt you!"

"Mom..." April sensed other thoughts stirring in the room like white noise, but she was too focused on her mother to make much sense of them. "Mom, please don't. I don't want to hurt you."

"The sentiment isn't mutual." Renee charged April, holding the syringe high.

Karai sprang up from the floor and ran to interpose, landing a high kick on Renee's chest. Renee flew back across the room, hit her head on the exam table, and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"April," Karai said, panting. "What is going _on_ here?"

April stared at her mother, her heart torn into a hundred different pieces. "I don't know."


	7. Sadly, the Last Chapter

Renee looked at the doctor through hazy vision. Her vision had been going every since this last round of chemo, and all her hair had fallen out. She had just lost a tooth the day before. Her entire body ached and ached, and once again, part of her wondered: would she have brain cancer if the Kraang hadn't performed all those horrific experiments on her?

The doctor sat down by the hospital bed. "Mrs. O'Neil, I'm sorry, but the cancer has metastasized. You have a second tumor pressing on your optical nerve now. All of your lymph nodes are affected. I've never seen cancer spread this fast. With or without continuing the chemo...we don't know if you'll live past the weekend. It's severe enough...we could lose you at any time. You may want to make sure all your papers are in order."

"But the chemo worked the first time," Kirby sputtered, standing up from his chair at her bedside. "Why isn't it working this time around?"

"I don't know. These things...just happen."

"Take me off the chemo," Renee said. "If I'm going to die no matter what, then I don't want to feel like this for the rest of my life."

"Renee, you can't!" Kirby said, almost frantic. "Miracles happen. If we're at least trying the treatment-"

"No."

"I'll leave you two to discuss things," the doctor said, and made a hasty retreat from the room.

"Please don't leave me," Kirby whispered tears welling in his eyes. He stroked a gentle finger along the curve of Renee's jaw. "I can't go on without you. You're my everything. My right arm. My partner."

Renee looked up at him through the darkened field of her vision. "Kirby...if it's my time, it's my time." A wave of pain shot through Renee's stomach and she hurriedly reached for the bucket beside the bed.

Kirby's facial expression tightened. "Baby, you'll make it through this round of chemo just like last time. Please don't talk that that."

"Didn't you hear what the doctor said? I'm going to die no matter what."

Tears spilled down Kirby's cheeks. "No. No. You can't. I—I need you. Who's going to help me with April? How—how can I even go on without you?"

"You'll find a way," Renee whispered. "Listen—there are things...things you don't know about me. Terrible things. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I—I never told you about my childhood."

"And—you're ready to talk about it now?"

Everything was becoming soft and warm and even hazier. She felt like she was floating, almost as if she wasn't part of her body anymore. She heard the words come out of her mouth rather than feeling like she spoke them.

"April is more special than you know. Never let anything happen to her."

"Of course I won't, baby."

The world grew fuzzier. "You are my light in the darkness. I risked everything for you."

"What do you mean?"

But Renee couldn't answer. All she could sense was Kirby calling out her name over and over, sobbing wildly, shouting "Come back!"

And then she sensed nothing at all.

Just nothing.

And then she woke to a sharp stabbing pain in her temple. She sat bolt upright, and heard a voice she hadn't heard in years. A voice that had filled her nightmares for just as long.

"The one known as Experiment 272 has been exhumed and resuscitated, Kraang Prime," a Kraang droid said.

"She will continue to be that which is useful to Kraang now that the cancer has been successfully eradicated using technology only available to Kraang," said a horribly familiar voice.

Renee flicked her eyes up to see Kraang Prime looming in front of her. She let out a scream that seemed to tear the inside of her throat to pieces.

"Apply the mind control device to her."

Renee couldn't even hear herself scream _no_ as they brought the device into the room and plugged it into her temple.

The last thought that went through her mind before she was absorbed into the Kraang's control was of Kirby and the baby who would spend her entire life in danger.

 _My precious April..._

And then all there was in her brain was the endless chatter of the Kraang.

* * *

"Seriously, April. My head is pounding like someone's taken a drill to it," Karai said.

April tore her eyes away from her mother lying on the floor and turned to face Karai. "Like I said. I don't know. But...that's my mom. She looks older than she does in the pictures I've seen of her." A hundred emotions at once surged through April. The lights flashed brighter.

Karai grabbed her head and shouted. "Ah! My head!"

April's eyes shot wide. All this time. _She_ had been the ones making the lights flicker—and her head must have been hurting because she was using mental energy without thinking. Just how extensive _were_ her powers?

"Karai—I'm sorry. The Kraang put some kind of implant in your brain that reacts to my...um...this is going to sound crazy...but my mental powers."

Karai's face went deadpan. "You've lost your mind."

"Yeah...I'm pretty sure I have. The Kraang injected me with something and now I have all these weird abilities."

Karai massaged her temples. "Sure. Why not? I'm married to a giant turtle and have been held captive by aliens for over a week now. I'll believe anything. So how are we going to get out of this mess?"

"I'm not sure. But...I can sense that Donnie's nearby. And there are about fifty Kraang outside the room all taking about what they're going to do to defeat me. I think that they think I don't care if I accidentally kill you and my mom."

"Wait—KILL?"

"Yeah. If I kill the Kraang with my brain, it will kill you guys too. Fortunately, I don't know exactly how to kill them on command. Unfortunately, I don't know if I can control when it happens." Frowning, April knelt down beside her mother. "We need Donnie to get this mind control device off my mom. It's rigged so that if I pull it out, she'll die. But Donnie could find a way to save her..." Tears welled in her eyes. "He has to." She smeared the tears away and rose to her feet. The lights flickered as determination flooded her. "But we have to save him first."

Karai clutched at her head as the lights flickered. _"_ If that's you doing that, you need to knock it off."

"I'm sorry," April said. "I—I can't control it."

"Try."

April drew a deep breath. _Try. I can try. I can try anything._ She let out the breath slowly, and felt inside herself—searching the depths of her own mind to see if she could find the source of all the chaos and noise pouring into her from sources heretofore unknown. There. Something like a door, a door kicked down by whatever the Kraang had done to her. A door that let in dozens of voices—most of them Kraang, but also her mother, Karai, and Donnie.

 _What the hell is going on here,_ Karai's thoughts clamored. Fear. Anger. Confusion. Pain.

Donnie's thoughts were incoherent except for _pain._

There were no thoughts in her mother's mind—only the whisperings of her autonomous nervous system.

It was too much. April slammed the door shut. A cold surge shot through her stomach, as if she was freezing and had just shut off her only source of heat. But after a few moments, everything quieted. Gradually, she came back to the world around her. She could still hear the Kraang outside, but it was with her ears and not her mind.

She swallowed. _Now what?_

* * *

 **Guys, I have some bad news. I just don't have it in me to finish this fanfic. I'm kinda over writing TMNT stuff and have moved on to other fandoms and focusing on my own original writing. The above is a section of a chapter I wrote almost a year ago. When it comes to Matters of the Mind, what I have written, I have written. I know it's probably a huge letdown, and for that I am extremely sorry. It's just that I've lost my passion for this fandom (I really only liked the 2012 'verse and it was only good up through the first two seasons, IMO), so I can't find the passion I need to finish writing it. Also, I lost my parents in a house fire about a year ago (2017) and it has really affected me as a person. And on top of that I've had some serious health problems. I've found the passion to finish my Miraculous fic "Metamorphosis" but that's it so far.**

 **Again, I'm really, really sorry. Please forgive me.**

 **So, to satisfy all curiosities, here is how I was planning to wrap this up:**

 **-They rescue Donnie and Donnie is able to remove the implant from Renee's mind and Karai's, too**

 **-Renee explains everything and has a tearful reunion with Kirby**

 **-She explains that Experiment 274 is her daughter, who does not yet have a name**

 **-When Kirby asks how she had another daughter, she says that when Kirby was captured by the Kraang they took a DNA sample from both her and Kirby and basically grew Experiment 274 in a lab.**

 **-The Kraang's hope with Experiment 274 is that she would be a second April, who could fill their needs**

 **-Kirby and Renee name Experiment 274 Robyn**

 **-The Kraang come after April and Robyn and Renee again and there is a huge epic battle that I wish I could have written for you guys, but again, I just ran out of steam**

 **-They discover a way to end the Kraang, but it will take April and Robyn's powers to destroy all of them.**

 **-They need two people to go in and hold off the Kraang long enough for April and Robyn to do this - and once it is done, the whole Kraang population on earth will be extirpated and the threat will be gone, but the two people who go in will not come out. They will be killed.**

 **\- Leo and Donnie volunteer, but then Kirby and Renee say they will do it. There is a tearful goodbye and Kirby and Renee go in to distract the Kraang while April and Robyn do their thing.**

 **-The Kraang are defeated, once and for all.**

 **-In the aftermath, Donnie proposes to April and they say they will raise Robyn together.**

 **-Leo and Karai also manage to adopt a daughter about Robyn's age.**

 **-Splinter and Mei return from their honeymoon, only to be surprised by the events that have occurred.**

 ** **-Everybody holds a memorial service for Renee and Kirby****

 ** **The End.****

 **I'm sorry, I know that wasn't as satisfying as reading the whole thing written out, but like I said, I just don't have it in me anymore. Please forgive me. I hope you will enjoy my other TMNT fanfics. Thanks so much for being a reader, it has meant everything to me to have your support.**

 **Peace,**

 **n00btmntfan**


End file.
